Cambodian Campaign

The Cambodian Campaign occurred from 29 April to 22 July 1970 when US and South Vietnamese forces invaded eastern Cambodia to assist the anti-communist Khmer Republic with driving out the Viet Cong, NVA, and Khmer Rouge guerrillas based along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

In March 1970, Prince Norodom Sihanouk was overthrown in a coup. For years, he had allowed the North Vietnamese PAVN to have sanctuary in his country, but he had not protested when the US bombed them. The new President of the Khmer Republic, Lon Nol, was an anti-communist and immediately received US Support. On 30 April 1970, President Richard Nixon shocked the world by ordering 30,000 American troops to storm into Cambodia, escalating the war by now taking the war to the NVA bases beyond South Vietnam's borders. The 30,000 US troops were joined by 50,000 ARVN soldiers. Their objective was to attack NVA base camps and supply lines and to buy time for the ARVN as it got ready to fight on its own. Nixon told the public that he had ordered an incursion, not an invasion, with the goal of protecting US forces in South Vietnam and in response to North Vietnamese aggression. However, the sight of US troops crossing into Cambodia re-ignited the anti-war movement. University students and many of their professors opposed the invasion, and students called for a nationwide students' strike; rallies were planned at Harvard, MIT, Indiana, Purdue, and other colleges. Back in the USA, the US National Guard killed 4 students in the Kent State shootings and 2 in the Jackson State killings. In June 1970, the US and ARVN forces withdrew from Cambodia, claiming to have killed 11,349 enemy troops had captured 22,000 weapons, and had destroyed 11,688 bunkers and buildings. However, by the end of the campaign, most Americans wanted out of Southeast Asia for good.